Solving Common Domestic Employment Issues for Your Clients

It’s easy for your clients who employ household help to get tripped up by tax, wage, and insurance laws. However, even unintentional mistakes can lead to fines, penalties, and potential legal action. Here are just three common domestic employment issues that your clients may face and ways you and GTM can help.

1. Your client commits wage violations by not paying nanny legally.

Your client hires a nanny but is unaware that domestic employees are subject to overtime and minimum wage laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Their nanny works 50 hours/week with no overtime pay and below minimum wage. Eventually, she realizes she’s being underpaid and the family is breaking the law. She sues your client for back wages.

GTM’s team of domestic employment experts make sure families are aware of all federal, state, and even local wage requirements so employees are paid legally right from the start. We also monitor any changes to wage laws and inform families so they can make any adjustments to pay and remain compliant.

2. Your client unintentionally commits tax evasion.

Your client hires in-home senior care for an elderly parent. They make sure to pay her the proper wage. However, they neglect to withhold income and FICA taxes or pay unemployment taxes. Your client may mistakenly believe the caregiver is an independent contractor and not their employee. When the caregiver is let go, she files for unemployment. However, the state has no record of unemployment taxes being paid or even that your client is an employer. Your client now faces significant fines and penalties.

GTM calculates all employer and employee taxes, even the ones that are easy to miss. Taxes are automatically remitted to the proper federal and state agencies. Your client has peace of mind that their taxes are being done right.

3. Your client has inadequate insurance coverage for a domestic employee.

Your client hires a housekeeper and manages to get payroll and taxes right. However, they are unaware that the workers’ compensation law in their state also applies to domestic employees. The housekeeper gets hurt, goes to the hospital, and says she was injured on the job. A workers’ comp claim is opened but the family doesn’t have coverage. Your client may be liable for at least a portion of their employee’s lost wages and medical costs. That’s on top of fines and penalties for lacking proper coverage.

As a licensed insurance broker, GTM handles workers’ compensation coverage in-house for clients that need or want a policy. We’ll obtain a quote; apply for a policy on the client’s behalf; and handle all claims, invoices, and audits. That way families have proper coverage without the hassles of doing it themselves.

Interested in learning more?

GTM relieves the burden of managing payroll, taxes, and insurance for clients who employ domestic employees.

There are a couple of ways you can work with us.

Refer your clients directly to us and we’ll do it all. Our Comprehensive Payroll Services include:

• Payroll processing with direct deposit or live check
• Quarterly, annual, state, and federal tax filings
• Online, secure access to payroll data for you and your client
• Compliance with tax, wage, and labor laws

Or, our “After the Fact” Tax Service frees up the time you spend calculating and preparing domestic payroll tax forms.

• Submit payroll data quarterly after wages have been paid
• Receive signature-ready federal and state quarterly tax filing forms as well as year-end documents like Schedule H, W-2s and W-3s.

Either way, we combine industry-leading expertise with an extraordinary level of personal attention. That means your clients get the same outstanding service you have always given them. And that is the value of a partner you can trust.

Contact Robert Lee at (800) 929-9213 x7248 for more information or to get started with GTM.